IIM-Shillong first B-School to webcast convocation

SHILLONG - The Indian Institute of Management (IIM) in Meghalaya is set to be first business school in the country to webcast its first convocation ceremony live April 3.

“We will be the first business institute to webcast our convocation ceremony to attract students to join the institute,” Director of IIM-Shillong Ashoke Dutta told IANS.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has consented to be the chief guest for the first convocation of the youngest IIM named after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

That apart, Dutta said, the postal department will also release a special cover to commemorate the historic convocation ceremony of the institute, which got job offers for its students, with an average annual salary of around Rs.10 lakh and the highest pay package worth a whopping Rs.34 lakh.

Top recruiters included Deloittes, E&Y, KPMG, PwC, Ogilvy & Mather, Viacom, Warner Brothers, AC Nielsen, Cadbury, Citigroup, HDFC, Standard Chartered, Axis Bank, Tata AIG, SBI Cap, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Siemens, Bosch, Ford, Honda, Lafarge, Hero Group and ONGC.

“We are already surging ahead with long and strong strides towards sustainable development, keeping its commitment intact towards development of society and environment,” Dutta said.

He said IIM-Shillong’s convocation is going to reflect the high-spirits of the institute as 63 students of the two-year flagship post-graduate diploma programme are going to be awarded their diplomas and certificates in presence of the board of governors, the director, the faculty members and the proud parents. Four students will also be awarded medals.

IIM Shillong follows a unique concept of winter internships. Under this, students go for internships in the months of January and February.

The institute took in its first batch of students in July 2008 and is looking at increasing the number of seats to “anything between 90 and 120″ this year. It started in 2008 from a makeshift campus and still functions out of an interim facility.

Surrounded by pine trees, lush green lawns and mountains in the backdrop, the institute is functioning from the Mayurbhanj Complex — the erstwhile summer palace of the kings of Mayurbhanj, Orissa.

The Meghalaya government has allotted a 120-acre plot on which work is under way for a state-of-the-art academic-cum-residential campus.

The institute will also hike its annual fees for the next academic session. The board of governors will take the decision in April.

“Our main thrust is on innovation, inclusiveness, adaptability, hunger for entrepreneurship, energy, agility, drive, networking, technology leadership and to achieve excellence by synergising complementary competencies within the team and the organisation charged with the aspiration for a broader vision and a higher purpose,” Dutta said.